Yes, he really said that, and no measure of after-the-fact spin doctoring will change it.

"I think the norms have really changed in terms of, what you can do to somebody against their will, how much you can crowd their space, make them miserable at work," Clinton said.

The former president went on with a brief but convoluted explanation. It was the latest in his 20-year campaign to absolve himself from responsibility for his own history of sexual mischief that was capped by the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Observers were aghast. Clinton was saying it was once more acceptable to take liberties against the will of others. There is no other way to interpret his comment.

His press secretary rushed into damage control by essentially saying Clinton didn't say ... what he said. Attempts by Clinton and his mouthpiece to portray him as a convert and champion of the modern women's movement would have been laughable were they not so insulting.

People who criticize the personal attitudes and behavior of other influential men, notably but not exclusively including President Trump, wish that if nothing else, Clinton would stop talking. His remarks came during an uneasy defense of former Senator Al Franken, who resigned amid claims of sexual misconduct, and Clinton continued to insist he owes no apology to Monica Lewinsky because he already apologized in public.

Clinton also said "maybe I'm just an old-fashioned person," - a reference that suggests old, bad habits are not only hard to break but somehow understandable - and "I think it's a good thing that we should all have higher standards."

The second remark artfully puts all of society into a basket. It implies Clinton's own personal behavior, and his misdeeds, is somehow shared by all of us.

Hardly anybody is willing any longer to cut Clinton slack on the off-chance he "misspoke." He is 71 years old and a former president whose life has been spent in public speaking.

He continues to do interviews by choice, angering those in political circles who once admired and supported him, and supplying irrefutable ammunition to those who did not.

Lewinsky is reviewing her own affair with Clinton, which led to his impeachment trial in 1998. The former staff member insisted for two decades that the feminist community abandoned and isolated her while remaining loyal to a president who backed their political causes.

She also said the tryst was consensual, which indicated Clinton showed true feelings for her and that her decisions were made by her own choice. Lewinsky now says she's taking another look at whether the most powerful man in the world took advantage of the situation.

That change of viewpoint will expose Lewinsky to charges that she's a late and opportunistic new passenger on the "me-too" movement bandwagon. Others will say it's about time she saw the light.

The real loser is Clinton, who is leaving his supporters no way to deny he was just what his harshest critics said he was - a hypocrite and misogynist who spoke progressively from the podium to hide personal conduct and beliefs that were as reprehensible in the 1990s as they are today.

To watch a former president fumble for an improved legacy, only to make things worse, is very insulting and also very pathetic and sad. Clinton's long-winded speeches have always revealed a man who didn't know when to stop talking. Now would be a good time, though it's probably too late.